This invention relates to panels for printed circuit boards, and more particularly to panels which can be mounted in a cart and the like for holding and transporting the printed circuit boards at an inclined position between a pair of the panels, the panels being adjustable to accommodate circuit boards of differing lengths and widths.
Printed circuit boards are well known in the art, being used extensively in all types of electrical equipment. Printed circuit boards are quite delicate and must be handled carefully during the fabrication thereof and in actual use, where damage to the circuit boards often occurs during the transportation between the assembly stations and between the work stations when in use. The circuit boards must be securely held when being transported to prevent them from shifting or inadvertently sliding out from the transporter.
Furthermore, the circuit boards come in a wide variety of sizes, having different lengths, widths and heights. At the present time, there are numerous types of transporters available for printed circuit boards, which are not specifically designed for storing and transferring these circuit boards. Some of these are in the form of baskets, some are cabinets, carts, trucks or similar types of containers. Many of these are inflexible and cannot be adjusted to accommodate the different sized printed circuit boards. Still other types of transporters have complex designs which add weight to the transporter and often present problems in manipulating the transporter.
A circuit board storage cart which attempts to solve the above problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,623. The patented cart has end frame members and cross frame members, with the end frame members having swivel casters for mobility. A pair of opposed channel assemblies, each having a plurality of corresponding left and right-hand L-shaped channels, are paired so that each pair of channels may support a circuit board. The plurality of channels of each channel assembly are vertically connected by two outer posts adjacent and interconnecting the outward ends of the channels and a middle post interconnecting the inner ends of each channel. Each channel has two sloping portions with each portion sloping downwardly from the outer ends to an apex at the inner ends to define a V-shaped channel in order to prevent the delicate circuit boards from inadvertently sliding out. The channel assemblies are attached at any one of various positions horizontally along the cross frame members so that the distance between channel assemblies may be changed to accommodate circuit boards of different sizes. Additional pairs of channels may be provided by interposing a double channel assembly between the original pair of opposed channel assemblies.